


'tis the damn season

by sanktaleksandr



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Christmas Party, Fluff, M/M, Modern Christmas au, Romance, and in this case they are soft christmas boyfriends, christmas with the lantsovs, darkolai, don't look at me like that i don't make the rules, what can i say aleksander and nikolai are soft boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:40:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanktaleksandr/pseuds/sanktaleksandr
Summary: “So my mother called today,” Nikolai stated as-a-matter-of-factly, shifting the topic once they ran out of catching up to do. “She asked if we were planning to spend Christmas with them.”A modern Christmas AU in which Aleksander and Nikolai spend the Holidays with the Lantsovs.
Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Nikolai Lantsov
Kudos: 20





	'tis the damn season

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!
> 
> Here is my little gift to all of you darkolais out there, hope you enjoy ❤️

By the time their first Christmas together rolled around the corner, Aleksander and Nikolai had been dating for approximately four months. 

Their romance had been a somewhat fast and passionate whirlwind, which, if you knew either of the two men, wouldn’t have come as a surprise. They had been introduced one August night at some type of work-related event, and it had been like lightning in a bottle from the moment their eyes had met. The air had practically crackled with electricity as they had shaken hands, and it hadn’t vanished since. They had quickly immersed themselves in a deep conversation and as the night had worn on, the conversation had turned into something else entirely. When they had woken up the next morning, a mass of tangled limbs under the covers, and gazed into each other’s eyes, they had already known they had found something extraordinary in one another.

After just a month of seeing each other they had decided to move in together, since they were spending all their time together anyway. To avoid choosing between both of their lovely homes, they had opted to look for an entirely new one. Even though their taste was very similar when it came to most things, apartment-hunting hadn’t been easy by any means. However, in the end they had managed to land a perfect apartment of their dreams. The rest had come rather easily.

\---

Now Christmas was fast approaching.

Nikolai was already home waiting when Aleksander arrived. Aleksander was welcomed home with the smell of delicious dinner and a few kisses from Nikolai. They chatted about how their days had gone. Aleksander had had an awful meeting with a client whereas Nikolai’s new initiative had been received surprisingly well by the parliament.

“So my mother called today,” Nikolai stated as-a-matter-of-factly, shifting the topic once they ran out of catching up to do. “She asked if we were planning to spend Christmas with them.”

“What did you say?” Aleksander asked, his brows furrowing lightly. Although they had managed to check a lot of boxes during their four months, meeting each other’s families wasn’t one of them. The thought of meeting Nikolai’s family didn’t raise any particular worry in Aleksander, but he had to admit that he might have preferred their first meeting to be something a little more lowkey than Christmas.

“I told her we’d have to discuss it between the two of us first,” Nikolai answered.

“Would you like to?” Aleksander questioned.

“Well it’s a tradition, not to say that that means it’s good, but it’s not completely awful either. I’ve always spent Christmases with my family when I’ve been able to because it’s important to them, and if I’m being honest, I can’t say I’ve hated any of them. And I would love for my parents to meet you,” Nikolai reasoned, smiling fondly at Aleksander, resting his hand on top of Aleksander’s. “But if you’re not comfortable spending Christmas with my family, I totally understand, we’re in absolutely no rush for such an introduction,” he added quickly.

Aleksander couldn’t help but smile back at Nikolai. “I have no objections,” he replied. “I just want to be with you, and if you want to, I’ll be happy to spend the holidays with your family.”

Nikolai was visibly relieved at Aleksander’s response. He flashed a wide smile. “It’s settled then.”

Truth to be told, Aleksander wasn’t that big of a Christmas person. Sure, he too had usually gone over to his mother’s house for a Christmas dinner but the occasion was more a formality than an event with any actual assigned emotion, since his family wasn’t particularly close. So spending Christmas with Nikolai’s family instead of his own didn’t feel like a big deal to him. Like he had said, he just wanted to be with Nikolai more than anything.

\---

In the days before Christmas Aleksander came to see an entirely new side of Nikolai. Nikolai was nothing short of a Christmas enthusiast: Christmas songs were playing in their household around the clock, Nikolai devoted himself to covering their apartment in Christmas decorations and constantly baking gingerbread cookies. It made Aleksander adore Nikolai all the more, something he didn’t even think would have been possible.

\---

When Aleksander had agreed to spend the holidays with Nikolai’s family he had had a vague idea of what to expect, or so he had thought. Of course Aleksander had known the Lantsovs were old money and that the family was filled with politicians on top of that, but the difference of scale in the ways their respective families celebrated Christmas was so staggering that there was no way Aleksander could have ever anticipated it.

Holidays with the Lantsovs rivalled that of the royal family.

It was a whole ordeal. The carefully scheduled celebration stretched over multiple days and was held at the Lantsov family mansion. Everything from meals to decorating the Christmas tree and exchanging the gifts was programmed in detail.

Everything would start with a welcoming toast on Christmas Eve at 3:00 pm sharp, after which was decorating the Christmas tree at 4:00 pm, followed by dinner at 6:00 pm and a cocktail event at 8:00 pm. Activities on Christmas Day consisted of breakfast at 9:30 am, late lunch at 1:00 pm, teatime at 4:00 pm, during which they would exchange gifts. The night would end in dinner and a cocktail event like it had the day before. Boxing Day wasn’t as filled with program, but scheduled nevertheless: brunch at 11:00 am, teatime at 3:00 pm and a final dinner again at 6:00 pm. 

All of the events also had a dress code, of course. For the dinner and cocktail event on Christmas Eve and the dinner on Boxing Day the dress code was semi-formal, but for the dinner on Christmas Day it was formal. Otherwise the dress code was smart casual. 

Once Nikolai had let his mother know they would indeed be attending, all of this information had arrived in an envelope sealed with the Lantsovs’ double eagle, containing a formal invitation.

Aleksander wasn’t sure what to think of it, but Holidays had certainly started to seem more like a business trip rather than a relaxing time off of work. But didn’t really bother Aleksander. He was more than capable of being presentable. And at the end of the day, he would get to spend time with Nikolai, and that was the only thing that really mattered to him.

\---

Nikolai hadn’t been entirely honest when he had told Aleksander he didn’t hate spending Christmas with his family. It was usually mostly a dull affair and the thought of having to talk to all of his extended family during those three days made Nikolai feel quite dreadful.

As the second son Nikolai had often in his life felt neglected, especially around the Holidays. For some reason the expectations for his good-for-nothing older brother Vasily were considerably lower than for Nikolai. On top of that Vasily had never had to work for anything in his life, unlike Nikolai.

This year, it was going to be different. Nikolai had had the most successful year of his life so far. As a member of the parliament, he had managed to usher in many much needed reformations. He had also run a marathon. And Nikolai would have been lying if he’d said that the thought of showing Aleksander off to his family wasn’t the most satisfying of them all.

Aleksander, who wasn’t only unbelievably handsome but also one of the sharpest minds he had ever encountered. Aleksander who was incredibly achieved in his own career at such a young age. Aleksander who was not only gentle and well-mannered but also witty and charming. _His_ Aleksander.

Nikolai had had a wide variety of partners before Aleksander, but none of them could even come close to his brilliance. Nikolai all but worshipped the very ground Aleksander walked on. And the most marvellous thing was that Aleksander felt the same way about Nikolai.

\---

And just like that, it was already Christmas.

The Lantsov family mansion was old and grand, just like the family itself, and little by little it started filling with guests. By 3:00 pm everyone was present. Nikolai’s father gave the welcoming toast and so Christmas officially began.

Everyone loved Aleksander, just as Nikolai had expected, and it brought Nikolai more joy than he would have cared to admit.

As Christmas Eve was coming to its end, Nikolai and Aleksander retreated to their room.

“So, how has it been? Not completely awful, I hope,” Nikolai inquired once it was just the two of them.

“Not completely awful, no. Just a bit exhausting perhaps,” Aleksander admitted, collapsing on the canopied bed. “Your family is so big, there were a lot of hands to shake.”

Nikolai gave Aleksander an apologetic smile, lying down next to him. “I know. They can also be a handful. You did great though. Everyone loved you.” Nikolai ran his fingers through Aleksander’s hair and gave him a kiss.

“Don’t sound so surprised. I can be rather charming if I so wish,” Aleksander muttered in response, pouting a little.

It made Nikolai laugh. “Oh I know. I’m not surprised. Just proud.” Nikolai smiled fondly at Aleksander and kissed him some more. Aleksander didn’t protest and kissed him back. Soon the kisses started turning more demanding and the movements of their hands more frantic. “I hope you’re not too exhausted from all of today’s program,” Nikolai murmured as he started undressing Aleksander.

Aleksander shook his head. “Never,” he answered, flashing a wicked smile at Nikolai, grey eyes twinkling with hunger for more.

It didn't take long before they were bare against each other, their panting and moans of pleasure filling the room a countless number of Nikolai’s ancestors had occupied before them. Nikolai’s ancestors however, were the furthest thing from his mind when he had the gorgeous Aleksander beneath him, crying out his name and whatever filthy things that come to his mind.

As they laid in each other’s arms afterwards, Nikolai thought he couldn’t be happier. It was the perfect ending for the perfect day.

\---

The next day had gone by without a hitch too, until the cocktail event after the dinner.

Nikolai had thought that Aleksander looked impossibly good in his tuxedo, which he had told him over and over again, in breathy whispers and stolen kisses. Aleksander had returned the favour every time, of course, and soon enough they had found themselves in search of more privacy.

That’s when they happened to overhear the conversation. They were just about to stumble in the distant men’s bathroom when they heard voices coming inside. They immediately froze in their tracks and were about to change direction, when they recognized the voices to be those of Nikolai’s father’s and Vasily’s.

“I swear that wretched bastard will be the death of me some day,” Nikolai heard his father bellow. “What the hell does he think he’s doing, undermining our position and wealth with his so called ‘reformations’?”

“I know dad. Kolya has never understood or respected the legacy of our family name,” Vasily conformed. “He’s always been Nikolai Nothing and he always will be, we’ll make sure of it. I’m willing to bet that that boyfriend of his is just some gold-digger or maybe an actor he’s hired,” he added.

“Or both,” Nikolai’s father quipped. They burst out laughing.

As Aleksander turned to look at Nikolai, horrified by what they had just heard, Nikolai was shaking. Shaking with rage and disappointment. After all the hard work he had done, after _everything_ he had ever done, it hadn’t been enough. And nothing would ever be enough.  


After hearing it out loud, Nikolai was fairly sure he had always known it. It might have been something he might have been able to live with, but the fact that they had also come after Aleksander? His magnificent, beautiful Aleksander, who deserved no part of their malice. Unforgivable.

Aleksander tried comforting Nikolai by soothing his arm and telling him they didn’t matter. It had no effect. Nikolai looked like he was about to burst from rage, and rightfully so. Aleksander glanced at the bathroom door. It was unlocked. He then decided to first knock on the bathroom door before opening it abruptly. Their expressions were priceless.

“What a coincidence,” he mused, calm and collected as he always was. “I’m sorry to interrupt your little gossiping session. We’ll be on our way soon, but I’ll have you know, that Nikolai is a million times finer man than either of you could ever even dream of being, and some day you’ll regret not seeing it.”

Aleksander spun around on his heels to leave, but Nikolai stopped him. He was still seething when he confronted his father and brother. “I don’t give a shit about what you say of me, but if you ever again say anything that could be even interpreted as being negative about Aleksander, I will devote my life to destroying ‘the legacy of our family name’ as you two put it,” he spat out. With that they took their leave, not giving them a chance to answer.

\---

Aleksander and Nikolai left the Lantsov Christmas party quickly, without saying a word to anyone. Nikolai looked like he could explode from anger at any given moment the whole trip home. It was only when they got home that he finally let go and burst in tears, collapsing to his knees on their bedroom floor. Aleksander was there in an instant, holding Nikolai and stroking his hair while he cried.

“I’m so sorry you had to experience that,” he sobbed. “I lied! Those Christmases have always been awful, but this has got to be the worst. I hate them and I hate that they can make me feel like this.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Aleksander soothed him. “It’s over now and you never have to see them again,” he said, kissing Nikolai’s head.

After a while Nikolai stopped crying. “I’m so sorry about what they said about you,” he repeated.

“Silly Nikolai, you have nothing to be sorry about. You're not the blame for something your father and brother said,” Aleksander retorted chuckling lightly.

“Still…” Nikolai sighed. “You know what?” he asked after a short break, looking up at Aleksander.

“What?”

“I’m actually kind of happy we heard that. Now I know what they truly think of me and I no longer have to strive for their approval.”

Aleksander smiled affectionately at Nikolai, resting his hand on the side of Nikolai’s head, caressing his check with his thumb and studying his beautiful hazel eyes. “As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. I’m guessing we won’t be visiting your family on Christmas from now on?”

Nikolai snorted. “Hell no.”

Aleksander continued caressing Nikolai’s cheek and gazing into those mesmerizing eyes of his. “You know that I love you terribly no matter what, right?”

Nikolai smiled widely at that. “I’m not always so sure. You could remind me a little bit more frequently,” Nikolai teased.

“You are impossible,” Aleksander groaned and bent down to kiss Nikolai.

“I love you too,” Nikolai whispered against his lips.


End file.
